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In 2008, a small restaurant called Frida’s Mexican Grill opened in a 60-seat venue on 21st Street, right next to the Thai Binh supermarket.
At the time, few Wichitans knew what a pirate was, but they were about to find out. The dish straight from Monterrey, Mexico—a giant flour taco stuffed with meat, lettuce, pico de gallo, and melted cheese, then folded and grilled until crispy—has what Wichita foodies have been dreaming of.
But the structure of a bridge near the restaurant in 2009 made it nearly impossible for Frida to get there, and owner Mario Quiroz closed the restaurant in 2010. He took a job at a food service distributor and scoffed at Frida’s return. But nothing happened.
Then, in 2013, one of the consumers at Quiroz restaurant opened and then temporarily closed a restaurant at 1064 N. Waco, right next door to Juarez Bakery, the longtime local favorite, and Qurioz saw a chance to make a comeback. his wife, Mara Garza, announced that they would be opening a new place to eat Mexican under a new call, Molino’s Mexican Cuisine, and that they would be serving many original dishes that many other Mexican eating places in the domain did not offer at the time. adding a Yucatecan-style slow-roasted red meat called cochinita pibil.
And yes, they promised, the pirates would come back.
Today, a decade has passed, and Quiroz and Garza are celebrating 10 years in business and launching several new menu items, adding an exclusive taco list that represents several other regions of Mexico. All of the new dishes were designed through Garza, who last year took over the day-to-day control of the dining room and its kitchen.
It’s been a turbulent decade for Molino’s owners, filled with expansion, shrinkage, COVID survival and role adjustments for Garza and Quiroz, parents of two children who were children when Molino opened and are now out of high school.
While many things have changed at Molino’s over the past decade, many things have also remained the same. Pirates remain the main draw, and the clientele, made up mostly of other people during lunch breaks from downtown businesses and nearby Riverside citizens. “He’s stayed strong and loyal.
Looking back, the couple says they can see the effect Molino’s has had on the local food scene since opening. His attention to detail, focus on presentation and ability to serve signature dishes that far surpass popular Wichita Tex Mex offerings have prompted other local restaurants to do more, Quiroz said.
“The big restaurants, when we started, started tracking what we were doing and I think they were better at it,” Quiroz said. “And I think at the end of the day, it’s smart for the whole community. “
Quiroz grew up in Guadalupe Victoria, a town in the northwestern Mexican state of Durango. His grandfather was a businessman, and when a teenager from Quiroz advised him that he might be interested in running a stand selling charcoal burgers, his grandfather was thrilled, he said.
His grandfather bought the stall and Quiroz, then 14, began running it with two of his cousins. Eventually, the children took over the school and activities, but the position was a success and so it was their parents who managed it. Quiroz’s grandfather eventually bought a building and moved the burger business inland, and today, 36 years later, the business is still in operation.
Quiroz grew up with an entrepreneurial spirit, and in 2001 completed his accounting studies in Monterrey, Mexico. After graduating, he worked in Mexico for five years before moving to the United States, he decided to continue his education. the universities of the two towns where his parents lived: San Jose and Wichita. The stark difference in cost of living made selection easy, Quiroz said, and he enrolled at Wichita State University.
Two years later, in 2003, Quiroz married Garza, whom she had met at his home, and she met him in Wichita. He worked for a few food corporations before serving at La Mesa, a Mexican restaurant operating at 6960 W. 21st St. de 2001 in 2009. I eventually rose through the ranks to the position of director and then became a co-owner.
But in 2008, Quiroz stuck to his entrepreneurial instincts and opened a new restaurant: Frida’s, which operated in a large space at 1580 W. 21st St. Once other people tried the lively Monterrey pirate and Frida’s new drive-thru salsa bar, word spread quickly.
Two years later, however, Frida’s had disappeared and Quiroz said he felt like a failure.
“The one that hardens and hurts Frida the most,” Quiroz said. “We have suffered the loss of this business, not only financially, but also emotionally. “
Quiroz went to paint for U. S. Foods, but his dream of reopening an edition of Frida’s never left him. And his enthusiasts never left him alone, asking him when they might have pirates again.
Three years after Frida’s closure, Quiroz said, her credibility was evident and she stumbled upon what she saw as an ideal location.
“And I said, ‘I’m ready,'” he recalled.
When Quiroz announced that he and Garza had returned, his longtime enthusiasts rejoiced. They were even happier when Molino’s opened its doors in the spring of 2013. Not only had Pirata returned, but Quiroz and Garza had come up with a menu of unique and exclusive dishes. Mexican dishes that couldn’t be eaten as widely in Wichita at the time: things like queso fundido, elote, and extravagant table chilaquiles. Molino’s is also known as a go-to place for street tacos.
The reaction was so favorable that the couple felt compelled to expand on the concept. In July 2015 they opened a Molino’s on the east side, at 37th and Rock Road. But despite a complete renovation of the building, the Quiroz business was sure The project of establishing itself in the domain never came to fruition. He closed this restaurant in 2017.
The following year, he attempted to make a comeback by opening Molino’s Taqueria at 2035 N. Rock Road. The restaurant, a do-it-yourself burrito stand with house-made flour tortillas and Frida’s famous salsa bar, got off to a good start. However, after the arrival of COVID-19, the business never recovered. It closed in September last year, bringing up the inability to locate workers and emerging food prices.
It was a blow, Quiroz recalls, but it also reminded him that his signature food spot in Waco is bread and still. While the business never fully recovered from COVID-19, Quiroz said, the main dining spot is sustaining itself.
Today, Quiroz is philosophical about his two false starts.
“Over the years, I’ve learned not to have bad emotions or get depressed about what’s going on,” she said. “We have to move on. You have to learn. This is the maximum part. “
A year ago, Quiroz needed to find a source of income outside of catering. He became a FedEx contractor and now manages seven to eight routes in Newton, Valley Center, Sedgwick, Halstead and the surrounding areas.
The task is full-time, so Quiroz moved away from Molino, leaving it up to Garza. He still helps her with the important tasks in the dining room, but now she has taken on the responsibility of running the restaurant on a day-to-day basis. Base: Manage payroll, sort inventory, schedule employees, pay expenses, and more.
When the couple created the new “anniversary” menu, the assignment fell entirely to Garza. She relied on her cooking skills, which have grown and evolved since she was a child, living with parents who were talented house cooks.
She came up with all the recipes for the special menu, which includes six taco features designed to reflect Mexico’s regions. An ode to the state of Michoacan, “La Piedad” tacos come with crispy red meat belly, tomatillo salsa, and guacamole. The “norteños” tacos, which represent the state of Chihuahua, are filled with roasted chicken, melted Chihuahua cheese, and roasted poblano peppers.
Garza also brought molcajetes (a set of meats and vegetables served in a stone pot), as well as shrimp pasta that he still serves at home and has garnered rave reviews. Soon, he also plans to start serving pirates in corn tortillas (they’re flour-based) and plans to make his own giant corn tortillas.
Working for the first time in 20 years has been favorable for the couple, they say, and has allowed everyone to grow.
Quiroz and Garza say they don’t know what the next 10 years will hold for Molino’s, though Quiroz said he hasn’t entirely ruled out looking to expand again. His gut tells him that the taqueria could have worked if it had been in a larger location and if the pandemic hadn’t emptied the business.
But for now they’re happy with what they’ve got.
“It’s been our home for 10 years and after trying or looking elsewhere, we found out it’s our number one spot,” he said. “This is the company that has supported our family for all those years. “
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